


You Might Not Be Okay, but I'll Still Be Here For You

by Sera_The_Dragon



Category: Deltarune (Video Game), Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Depressed Frisk, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotionally Repressed Frisk, Found Family, Gen, Intrusive Thoughts, Past Child Abuse, Past Demonic Possession, Self-Harm, Self-Hatred, Sibling Bonding, injury reveal, past emotional/psychological abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:56:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27622379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sera_The_Dragon/pseuds/Sera_The_Dragon
Summary: Everyone's taking the opportunity to rest for a while since the Sea of Anguish can't be crossed yet. However, something's off about Frisk, and for whatever reason Kris is the only one who's noticed.
Kudos: 8
Collections: Dreemurr's Tears and Darkner's Blood: An Undertale/Deltarune AU





	You Might Not Be Okay, but I'll Still Be Here For You

**Author's Note:**

> This story has MAJOR spoilers for my main UT/DR AU story "Dreemurr's Tears and Darkner's Blood", so if you want to avoid that, this is your cue to leave  
> Also, in case you didn't read the tags, there are some sensitive topics touched on here. (It's mostly related to mental illnesses; stuff like self-harm, intrusive thoughts, etc.)

The waves crashed and gently lapped at the shore as Kris gazed out at the ocean. An almost unnatural calmness washed over the whole group.

“How are we supposed to get across?” Ralsei said. “There’s no sign of a bridge or any boats. And the sea’s too great to swim across.”

“Great,” Susie growled. “We’re stuck again.”

Alphys stepped a bit closer to the shore. “Um,” she said, “maybe this would be a good time to, uh, to y’know, rest for a bit. We’ve… well, we’ve been on this journey for a—a while. Besides, uh, Frisk still needs a… a bit of time to recover.”

As everyone else agreed to rest, Kris found themself sitting down on the grass. Ralsei wandered over and sat beside Kris. The two sat in silence, watching as the dark sun set in the distance, eventually disappearing over the horizon.

“For such a twisted world,” Ralsei said, “it can be very pretty, can’t it?”

Kris nodded in response. “Is Frisk okay?”

“She’s doing well,” Ralsei replied. “As well as can be expected, anyway. Her injuries are pretty serious.”

“Can I see her? There are a few things I want to talk about with her.”

“Sure. She’s over there.” Ralsei pointed a bit farther down the coast.

Kris stood up and walked over to where Ralsei had been pointing. There, on top of Ralsei’s old scarf, was Frisk, sitting with her leg crossed over her knee and her arm resting on top of it. She looked sadder than usual, and Kris could tell she was crying.

“Hi, Frisk.”

“Hey,” she said, turning to look at Kris. Her eyes were red from all her tears. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Kris frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be? You’re kind of a weird kid, you know. You got stabbed multiple times, and you’re only worrying about the rest of us. Aren’t you concerned for yourself?”

“I just… I don’t want you guys to worry about me.” Frisk sighed. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

Defeated, Kris headed back to the rest of the group. Alphys was sharing a funny experience with everyone else. Ralsei in particular seemed to be enjoying it.

“I’m worried about Frisk,” Kris eventually said.

“Worried?” Alphys asked. “Why would you be worried about her?”

“She doesn’t seem to care that she’s been hurt so bad.” Kris sat beside the small reptilian. “I asked her about it, and she said she didn’t want us to worry about it, but the way she said it made it sound like she thought she was a burden somehow.”

“She’s probably just a bit of a private person,” Mettaton said.

Undyne nodded in agreement. “Plus, she cares a lot about you. It totally makes sense that she’d be putting your wellbeing over hers.”

“I guess you’re right,” Kris said after a while. “I just don’t really understand it. And this isn’t a recent development either. Ever since we first met, she’s always tried to protect everyone around her. Even when it almost got her killed.”

“Kris is right,” Susie said as she sharpened the Brave Ax. “First time the two of them met, they were getting bullied. She let herself get beat up real bad so Kris would be okay. She didn’t even know their name and she was already willing to sacrifice herself for them.” Susie exhaled sharply and put away her ax. “I still haven’t met anybody else who comes close to being that selfless.”

“Well, I’m sure she had her reasons,” Flowey said. “It’s not unreasonable to think that she’s willing to sacrifice herself for the greater good.”

The whole group went silent for a while. Only the sound of crashing waves in the distance filled the air. Then, Undyne spoke up.

“Well, obviously _she’s_ selfless. But what about _us?_ Would you sacrifice yourselves for the good of the group?”

Ralsei fiddled with his scarf. “I hate to admit it, but I don’t know if I would. I care about you all so much, but… at the same time, I’m scared of dying.”

Papyrus nodded. “I can relate.”

“But that doesn’t answer the question, does it?” you ask. “That’s what bothers me.”

“I mean, I’d do anything to save my friends,” Susie said. “But I’m not gonna throw myself on a flaming sword just because some guy asks me to, you know?”

As everyone else continued the conversation, Kris found themself thinking more and more about Frisk. It never occurred to them before, but now they thought she might not be the brave person everyone else believed she was. True, she was selfless beyond belief, but how much did they all _really_ know about Frisk? The screams in the dead of night, her weird reactions to small things, whatever was hidden below the filthy bandage on her arm… None of them knew about the side of Frisk that she deliberately hid from everyone. Hell, Kris wasn’t even sure if _they_ knew about that side. They just knew Frisk the way they all wanted to know her: a brave, selfless warrior that risked her life for others without hesitation.

Was that really the whole truth of the matter?

* * *

After some time, Kris stood up from the ground and walked towards Frisk. Susie did the same.

“I meant to ask,” Susie said, “how’d you find Frisk? Remorse said she was all the way over in Epicenter, so how did she end up in the forest with you?”

Kris sighed and sat down next to her. “Creator possessed her.”

Susie’s eyes widened in surprise. “So that’s… that’s why Creator looked like her?”

They nodded silently, and Susie shook her head, looking annoyed. “I still can’t believe I almost killed my own sister. If I had known…”

“Hey, it’s not your fault. Don’t beat yourself up over it. If anything, you should beat up that stupid demon over it.” Susie laughed a bit at her own joke. “Tell you what, I’ll kick Creator’s ass _for_ you. How’s that sound?”

Kris smiled a bit. “Come on, you can’t have all the glory to yourself.”

“Oh, can’t I?” Susie laughed as she elbowed Kris. “But seriously, I will fight Creator. You can’t stop me from doing it.”

Kris slowly approached Frisk, with Susie still in tow. She’d hardly moved since the last time Kris saw her. 

“Are you okay?” they asked.

Clearly trying to hold back tears, Frisk sighed in defeat and looked away from both of them. “I already told you, I don’t want you worrying about me. I’m fine.”

Without warning, Susie grabbed Frisk’s hand—her bad hand. Frisk drew back, hissing in pain.

“You shouldn’t be hiding stuff from us,” Susie growled. “It’s pretty damn obvious that you’re _not_ okay, so don’t try and lie because we’re _going_ to know. Got it?”

“Susie!” Kris shouted. “Let her go!”

Startled, Susie lessened her grip on Frisk’s hand, staring at Kris with questions in her eyes. “I’m just trying to make a point here.”

“Her hand is injured; you’re hurting her!”

For a moment, Susie didn’t move, but then she let go of Frisk’s hand, looking embarrassed. “Sorry. I didn’t know. Are you okay?”

“Yeah…” Frisk winced, grabbing her hand. “It’s fine; you don’t need to apologize.”

Kris knelt to see eye-to-eye with Frisk. “Let me see your hand.”

“Why?”

“I saw you grimace when Susie grabbed your hand, remember?”

“Oh. Uh… Yeah. My bad.”

Reluctantly, Frisk rolled her sleeve up to her elbow, revealing the old bandage wrapped around her hand and forearm. “You’re probably gonna have to take it off…” she muttered sadly. “Just… just get it over with.”

Kris hooked their fingers in between the loose bandage strips and pulled at a few of them briskly, unraveling the whole thing. Frisk drew a sharp breath as the bandage separated from her skin.

It was an ugly wound, angry and red with infection. As the rest of the bandage peeled away, it was revealed that it went all the way up her forearm, an angry track of dried pus. It immediately started to bleed, although it wasn’t as severe as Kris expected for such a deep, wide wound.

The gash was surrounded by several smaller cuts, some of which seemed like they had had plenty of time to heal. The scrapes all looked suspiciously similar to each other.

“Frisk,” Kris said, “where did these come from?”

Frisk just shook her head sadly. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Frisk, tell me how you got these wounds.”

Her whole body tensing up, she slowly turned away, her eyes filling with tears. “You… you wouldn’t understand.”

Taken aback, Kris frowned. “Answer me! Where did the wounds come from!?”

“Please just stop—”

“Tell me!”

Frisk flinched away from Kris, scared by their sudden outburst. She let out a shaky sigh, closing her eyes. When she finally calmed down, her voice was barely more than a monotone whisper:

“…I did this.”

Neither of the teens were sure how to react to her answer. Kris wished she had said anything else; that Creator had attacked to possess her, or she’d injured herself running through Remorse’s woods. Anything would have been better than the answer they made Frisk give to them.

Susie was the one who broke the silence. “You mean…”

Frisk nodded slowly, still looking away.

“I—I don’t understand,” Kris said, their voice trembling with worry. “Why would you do something like this?”

Frisk shrugged one shoulder, wincing slightly. “I… it was… it was the only way I…” She wiped her face on her sleeve, desperately trying to hold back tears. “I just needed a distraction… something to take my mind off of—of the bad thoughts, and, and the thoughts about doing things, bad things, things I know I shouldn’t do… I didn’t tell anyone because—because I just didn’t want you guys to worry,” Whimpering, Frisk curled into a ball, her shoulders shaking in fear as she tried to smother her sobs.

Kris sat down on the ground, putting their arm around Frisk. “Hey,” they whispered, “I, uh… I know things might be rough, but… if you ever just want somebody to talk to, well, I’m here. You don’t have to be scared to tell me these things. I’m, uh, I’m here for you.”

Frisk took a shuddering breath, nodding slowly. Gently, Kris pulled their sister into a hug. They weren’t entirely sure they were helping, but they hoped Frisk would know what they were trying to do. Relief washed over them when Frisk returned their embrace. She was still shaking and crying, but at least Kris knew that she understood.

“I love you, Frisk.”

Frisk held on to them tightly, as if they'd vanish if she let go for even a second. For a moment, something shone inside of the two humans, casting a faint red light around them. 

“I… I love you too.”


End file.
